Elon Musk's Plan To Send Humans To Mars Criticized, British Royal Astronomer: This Is A Dangerous Illusion

The view of the Martian environment (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA CEO of SpaceXElon Musk is still determined in sending millions of people to Mars. In order for this plan to be realized before 2050, Musk continues to develop adequate spacecraft. According to Musk, sending humans to live on Mars is a very necessary measure to maintain human survival. However, this action is also considered dangerous by several parties, one of which is British royal astronomer.Martin Rees, British Royal Astronomist and member of the House of Lords, said that the possibility of staying on Mars is very likely to occur. He likened this action to humans trying to live on the South Pole. However, efforts to stay on Mars are more unreasonable. The reason is, the Martian environment is much more dangerous when compared to the South Pole. Therefore, Martin said that staying on Mars is a crazy and also dangerous idea. "The idea of mass migration to avoid Earth's problems, which he (Elon Musk) and several other space enthusiasts adopted, in my opinion, is a dangerous illusion," Rees said in the House of Lords podcast, quoted from Gizmodo. In addition to the very high level of danger, sending humans to Mars needs to be avoided due to cost issues. Rees explained that this idea of human delivery should be supported by the private sector because public funding is not suitable for high-risk plans.

"Only people who really have a high desire for risks that can go into space, and they must be funded by the private sector, not all of us," Rees explained. Mars is indeed considered the most realistic planet to live in because it has oxygen and has the potential for microbial life. However, it should be understood that the Martian atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide, not oxygen. The Red Plate has 95 percent carbon dioxide, 3 percent nitrogen, and its average temperature reaches minus 63 degrees Celsius. The gravity style on Mars also only reaches 38 percent of Earth's gravity so the idea of staying on Mars is still getting a counter.